Getting to know the Yadkin County School Board

Editor’s note: In honor of School Board Appreciation Month, The Yadkin Ripple is spotlighting the members of the Yadkin County School Board.

Name: Dr. Lynn Allred

Age: 55

Profession: Practicing veterinarian in Wilkesboro, NC

Family life: I am married with two children. My daughter is a freshman at Forbush High School and my son is a sixth grader at Forbush Elementary School. My wife is a retired elementary school teacher.

How long have you been on the school board? I have been on the school board for five months.

What makes you want to be a Yadkin County School Board member? I want to be on the school board to represent the parents of our county and make their voice heard. With one child in elementary school and another child that has completed middle school and is now in high school, I am familiar with the issues that face our students, teachers and parents. I want to make sound common sense decisions that make a long-term impact for the improvement of our schools

What was your favorite subject in school? My favorite subject at Starmount High School was biology and Mr. Jerry Welsh taught me. His influence propelled me into the career I have loved for almost 29 years.

What topics in education today interest you? An educational topic that interests me now is distance learning at the high schools. This program makes the curriculum limitless and every student should take advantage of it.

Name: Diane Hampton

Age: 51

Profession: NCDOT Division 9 Planning Engineer.

Family life: My husband is Randall Hampton, a farmer, and we are blessed with two sons, Chris and Dan Hampton. Chris is at USC Law School in Columbia, SC, and Dan is at Wake Forest Medical School. We will be gaining a daughter-in-law this summer when Dan gets married to Laura.

How long have you been on the school board? I have been on the board for over 6 years.

What makes you want to be a Yadkin County School Board member? I truly enjoy helping young people be all they can be. I believe each child has a gift and it is our job as parents and teachers to help them find out what that is and to enrich their education to insure that they meet their full potential. I also understand how hard it is to raise a child these days and I try to do my best to help parents and students with these challenges.

What was your favorite subject in school? I liked science and math the most. I guess that is why I ended up being an engineer.

What topics in education today interest you? Technology, science and math are areas that interest me the most and will be important for our youth to learn. I also feel that it is important for kids to be well rounded with knowledge of the arts and to be active in sports or clubs. Our young people are going to have to be innovative in order to be fully successful in the future.

Name: Rex “Buck” Baity

Age: 55

Profession: Retired Yadkin County Emergency Services worker from 1978 to 2008. Worked 13 years as an E.M.T. Paramedic Supervisor. Worked for Boonville Police Department for 9 years as a patrol officer and five years as police chief.

Family life: I have one son, William Paul Baity, who is a 2003 graduate of Starmount High School. He attended UNC-Charlotte and Surry Community College. He currently works at Unifi and owns an antique store in Boonville and he’s a state licensed auctioneer and Boonville town commissioner. My mother is Dorothy Baity and my brother is Donald Baity.

How long have you been on the school board? I have served on the board for 13 years. I was first elected to the board in 2000.

What makes you want to be a Yadkin County School Board member? I want to help and assist all children to have the best opportunity for a quality education in Yadkin County.

What was your favorite subject in school and why? Math was my favorite subject. That was a subject you needed in life and every day living, work, etc.

What topics in education today interest you? All topics are very important or critical in today’s society. If you need to prioritize then computer technology would be on top because our society is going that way.

Name: Jennifer Hemric

Age: 40

Profession: Executive director at New Hope Pregnancy Care

Family Life: I am married to Van Hemric, a farmer. I have four children. Ashton is a senior at Starmount High School. Colton is a freshman at Starmount High School. Kylie is four and Kaleb is two. Ashton and Colton are my biological children. We are legal custodians for Kylie and Kaleb.

How long have you been on the school board? Six months

What makes you want to be a Yadkin County School Board member? I’m a parent and a taxpayer. I have kids in Yadkin County Schools now and I will have kids in our schools for years to come. I have a vested interest in our schools.

What was your favorite subject in school and why? Chorus was my favorite subject. Marching band was my favorite activity. Through music you can express yourself. Libby Brown and Tommy Garner helped us to be our best musically that they taught us to appreciate a variety of music and taught us life lessons of hard work reaps rewards and that it can’t be measured in grades or test scores.

Profession: Retired from the Yadkin County School System in 2002. I worked as a 7th and 8th grade teacher for five years at Fall Creek Elementary and served as principal for five years. I worked as principal at Jonesville Elementary for 18 years. I served assistant principal at Meadowlark Elementary for one year and as assistant principal at Southwest Elementary for one year.

Family life: My wife is Debbie Nations Dezern and we have two children. Our son is Adrian Dezern and he is married to Andrea Dezern and they have two sons, Trey who is 11 and Zack who is seven. Our daughter is Kapin Ladd and she is married to Prestin Ladd. They have a daughter, Preslee, who is five months old.

How long have you been on the school board? I was elected to the school board in 2008 and re-elected to the board in 2012.

What makes you want to be a Yadkin County School Board member? I am a lifelong resident of Yadkin County and I attended West Yadkin School and worked for the school system for 33 years. My experience in the school system gives me insight into the daily operation of our schools. I want to be a part of our school system as we continue to look for ways to better prepare our students for a global economy. It is also important that we encourage good citizenship and responsibility in our students regardless of what profession they seek.

What was your favorite subject in school and why? In elementary school my favorite subject was math as I enjoyed working with numbers. My favorite subject in high school was U.S. history as I learned how our country was formed and how important leaders helped our country through some difficult times to the make the U.S. the greatest nation in the world. This carried over to college as I obtained a bachelor of science degree in social science with a concentration in U.S. history.

What topics in education today interest you? Educational trends/methods to improve student achievement, impact of charter schools/school vouchers on public schools, use of technology to enhance student achievement, appropriate funding for public schools, school safety and providing a safe and caring environment for all students and staff.

Name: Frank Brown

Age: 70

Profession: Retired from Yadkin County School System in 1997. I worked as a teacher, coach and principal in Yadkin County Schools.

Family life: My wife is the late Nancy Brown. We have one daughter, Angela Choplin, who is a principal in Forsyth County. We have one son, Chad Brown, who is an attorney. Between them I have six grandchildren; three boys and three girls.

How long have you been on the school board? I have served on the board for 10 years. There are two years left in my third term.

What makes you want to be a Yadkin County School Board member? To ensure that students are prepared to be productive and successful citizens in our present day world.

What was your favorite subject in school and why? U.S. History was my favorite subject because it allows one to see the stages in the development of our nation, the men and women that made it happen and the things that we can learn from past events.

What topics in education today interest you? Student achievement. I am interested in our efforts to help Yadkin students lead the state and us in their achievements; as well as how to apply the success rates of other counties in order that our students can compete in a global market.

Name: Howard McKnight

Age: 69

Profession: Retired from Yadkin County School System in June 2000. I served as the biology teacher at Forbush High School for 35 years.

Family life: I have one brother, Dennis McKnight, who is married to Lynn. I have two nieces, Scarlett Parnell, who is married to Trey, and Cortney Yahn, who is married to Jeff. I have one great nephew, Mason Parnell.

How long have you been on the school board? I was elected in 2002. This year will be my 11th year.

What makes you want to be a Yadkin County School Board member? As a former teacher, my adult life has been committed to education. My goal is to work for the best education possible for our Yadkin County students. I want to see our students be the best in the state.

What was your favorite subject in school and why? Biology. Through biology you stud life and the relationships of all living things.

What topics in education today interest you? As a board member, all topics that deal with the betterment of the education process for our students. Included among these are achievement, funding and safety.

Reach Lindsay Craven at 679-2341 or at lcraven@civitasmedia.com.

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